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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。
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6 G. [ C! z( cFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.
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Every office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.) b' E" m( n! q4 R
) c) E& u& H1 S9 MTwenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.
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: |. M) U9 w( `+ f8 w"It's the toughest decision we have to make in our business life, and it's been a hard few days for us," Hunt said.3 a O* ?5 A' F1 T
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It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.
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1 t+ e/ L" `/ cNo hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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In fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.
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"That's the paradoxical thing. Even though things are changing, Fort McMurray (Alta.) is still growing, and we need more people up there," he said.
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- N$ T2 ~ k2 F) y% a3 T"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."( o! s" t9 f+ }6 m2 w; H/ q5 i
; ]- r2 Q8 w( e8 d, n+ i! YThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."
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Hunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas.
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/ i# f" S5 J4 e6 l9 R: t- ^$ O- _They will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added./ m" G4 B8 L2 W9 v3 s* y
@" j& O) n2 c/ jThe employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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Mike Waites, CEO of Vancouver-based parent company Finning International Inc., recently lowered the 2008 earnings guidance due to a slowdown in some of its businesses in Western Canada and the United Kingdom.
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Demand for new equipment will likely soften and some purchases may be deferred, but that will result in an increase in its parts and service business - Finning's most profitable business - he said.
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Finning reported third-quarter net income of $64.8 million compared to $63.6 million for the same quarter last year. Revenues were a record $1.46 billion, compared to $1.33 billion a year before.1 l7 ~ z1 b7 a( x
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Its order backlog has also grown to a new record of $2 billion, dominated by mining equipment, "and provides good revenue visibility for 2009 and into 2010," Waites said. |
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